In a former life I worked for DEC as a repair technician.  They are, as yet,
the only people I have seen to have taken ESD really seriously.  I suppose they
were one of the few people to have the funds to do proper studies themselves
(they spent > 20 million doing so) & the results were serious enough that ESD
programs became LAW in the Engineering side of DEC.  They had a very simple way
of handling non-compliance - threat of dismissal - and they were serious.  I
applaud them for the way they handled this serious problem.  We were adequately
trained.  We were shown videos followed by Q&A sessions, and this was repeated
tri-monthly.  We were given literature on how we were expected to implement ESD
protection including diagrams of workbench setup & testing procedures & also
maintenance of static safe areas.  All ESD safe areas were marked on the floor.
I was encouraged, even as a junior technician, to ask anyone who came into my
area unprotected or who was not complying ESD procedures, to move out until
they `took precautions' (more often than, not this was office management, not
technical staff)

One of the keys to getting us, the staff, onside was showing some slides of p-n
junctions that were affected by ESD.  A hole had been partially blown through
it but it still seemed to work.  Only when used more than 1 thousand times a
second did the ESD damage cause the junction to fail.  As technicians, we knew
how this could ruin our day fault-finding.



> How did you convince the Design Engineers to take ESD precautions 
> when handling ESDS devices, IC's, and boards ect?

as above - it works well

> 
> There is this overwhelming since in the electronics industry that ESD is
> a fabricated problem that should be talked about but you do not have to 
> take any actions, or the other guy can use the precautions but I design
> my circuits to handle any ESD event, so why should I be worried. 

ask DEC about their own studies.  This is what proved it to them

> 
> I would surmise you think we have a obstinate group of Engineers, and that
> maybe the case, but its not. We all know that the design people are a key part
> of our products. Why then, are these designers having such a hard time 
> accepting these controls. Sure enough, I can use all of the motivation
> techniques available, but why are we not taking these controls to heart or 
> on our own?

By their nature, they have to `believe in it'.  Once they do they will boast of
their knowledge & compliance (like me).

> Micahel Cussen
> Medar Inc.
> 810-477-3900-3606
> [log in to unmask]

Feel free to drop me a line.  I havent worked at DEC for 7 years, but I still
know a few blokes there who might be able to track down who is their ESD guru's
these days.  Good luck, you're doing the right thing.


-- 
Dominic Bragge, PCB Designer
JNA Telecommunications (R&D)           "Acoustic"
16 Smith St                            Used to hit Billiard Balls!
Chatswood NSW AUSTRALIA 2067